你为什么要用覆盖物覆盖树叶，而不是用耙子耙呢

你为什么要用覆盖物覆盖树叶，而不是用耙子耙呢

It’s the annual fall dilemma. The leaves that have fallen on the lawn need to be removed, but there are more on the trees. Should you rake them up now or wait until the limbs are bare?

这是一年一度的秋季困境。草坪上掉下来的叶子需要清除，但树上的叶子更多。你是现在就把它们耙起来，还是等到它们的四肢都光秃秃的?

Leaves can be good for your grass — as long as you mulch them. (Photo: renee_mcgurk [CC BY 2.0]/Flickr)

Instead of raking leaves, stuffing them into lawn bags and hauling the bags to the curb, mow them with a mulching mower — a lawnmower with a specially designed high deck and a mulching blade that chops leaves into fragments as tiny as confetti. As the shredded leaves decompose, they will act as a natural fertilizer and weed control agent.

不用耙树叶，把它们塞进草坪袋里，然后把袋子拖到路边，而是用一种带护根的割草机把它们割下来——这种割草机有一个特别设计的高平台，还有一种护根刀片，可以把树叶切成像五彩纸屑一样小的碎片。随着叶子的分解，它们将成为天然的肥料和杂草控制剂。

The answer

这个问题的答案

Mulching with a mower, instead of bagging, cleans up and feeds your lawn at the same time. (Photo: /Shutterstock)

Homeowners can easily solve this problem with a mulching mower. “Mulching mowers are designed with a high deck and are shaped so that the mulching blade spins leaves and grass more than once as it cuts them into small pieces,” said Kevin Morris, president of the National Turfgrass Federation.

业主可以用覆盖割草机很容易地解决这个问题。美国草坪草业联合会主席凯文·莫里斯说:“这种割草机有一个很高的平台，它的形状可以让割草机在将叶子和草切成小块的时候，让叶子和草旋转不止一次。”

What not to do

什么是不该做的

Don’t wait until spring to mulch leaves and spread them on landscaped beds. If you place leaves on garden beds in the fall, they will biodegrade almost completely, if not completely, by spring. If, on the other hand, leaves are not placed on garden beds until spring, the decomposition process will compete with plants for nutrients just when the plants need it most, to make energy to produce the flowers you’ve waited all winter to enjoy!

不要等到春天才把树叶覆盖起来，铺在景观床上。如果你在秋天把叶子放在花园的床上，到春天它们几乎完全生物降解。另一方面，如果叶子要到春天才放在花园的床上，那么在植物最需要营养的时候，叶子的分解过程就会和植物竞争营养，从而产生能量，生产出你整个冬天都在等待的花朵!

Benefits

好处

Leaves have to come up for a healthy lawn. But raking and bagging isn't the best way, either for you or your lawn. (Photo: /Shutterstock)

Shredding leaves with a mulching mower will save homeowners time and money. Mulching is faster and far easier than raking.The decomposing leaves and grass cover the soil between the individual grass plants where weeds can germinate. MSU studies found that homeowners can attain a nearly 100% decrease in dandelions and crabgrass after mulching fall leaves for just three years. In addition to reducing the occurrence of weeds and the need to spend money on weed control products, mulched leaves keep the soil warmer in winter and cooler in summer and the nutrients provided by mulching reduce the amount and expense of fertilizer need to achieve green-up in the spring.

用割草机粉碎树叶可以节省房主的时间和金钱。覆盖的速度更快，而且比耙容易得多。腐烂的叶子和草覆盖了单独的草植物之间的土壤，杂草可以在那里发芽。密歇根州立大学的研究发现，房主只需覆盖落叶3年，蒲公英和杂草的数量就能减少近100%。除了减少杂草的生长和花在杂草控制产品上的钱，覆盖的叶子在冬天保持土壤温暖，在夏天保持土壤凉爽，覆盖提供的养分减少了在春天实现绿化所需的肥料的数量和费用。

Bonus tip

小贴士

If you are using a side-discharge mower, begin mowing on the outside edge of your lawn, making sure that you shoot the leaves toward the middle of the yard. Mowing in this pattern also allows you to mow over the leaves more than once and keeps them from ending up on sidewalks, driveways and the road. If the leaves are still in fairly large pieces after your first pass, go back over the lawn at a right angle to your first cut.

如果你使用的是侧卸式割草机，那就从草坪的外缘开始割草吧，确保你把叶子朝院子中间的方向割。这种修剪方式还可以让你不止一次地修剪树叶，防止它们落在人行道、车道和道路上。如果第一次修剪后，叶子仍然是相当大的一片，那么就以正确的角度重新修剪草坪。